Auxiliary floor for poultry houses



June 9, 1953 w. r. SEIDEL EI'AL 2,

AUXILIARY FLOOR FOR POULTRY HOUSES Filed Nov. 22, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l mvw A z for-neg June 9, 1953 w. 'r. SEIDEL ETAL 2,641,224

AUXILIARY FLOOR FOR POULTRY HOUSES Filed Nov. 22. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TORS Wo/zer 7. Seioe/ .1. 1 By Robe/"2 14. Se/de/ MAQPQM Patented June 9, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Auxmrmvnooefir i iocmnvHouses Walter T. Seidel' and Robert A. seiael,

Baltimore, Md.

Application November-22, 1950', serial 197,124

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to fabricated wire floors for poultry houses An object of the invention is the provision of an elevated floor for poultry houses in which the floor is formed of fabricated Wire-tesubportthe poultry above the main floor to permit droppings to pass through the fabricated floor thereby providing better sanitary conditions for the poultry, the elevated floor being readily removable to permit cleaning of both the main floor of the poultry house and the fabricated floor, the lastmentioned floor being built in sections to facili tate the application or removal of said floor.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an elevated auxniary wire-fabric floor for poultry houses in which the supporting legs are removable for fiat application of the legs to the floor for shipping purposes, said legs being so constructed that they may beassembled readily in vertical positions for not only supporting the poultry, but supporting a caretaker While permitting droppings topass through the auxiliary floor. I

A further object of the invention is the pro vision of an elevated fabricated Wire screen floor for supportingpoultry above the droppings on the main floor of a poultry house tocreate better sanitary conditions therein, said floor being raised above the floor of the poultry house by fabricated Wire legs or supports which may be moved toinoperative positions to facilitate pack: ing of the floor in compact bundle'for shipping purposes, but which may be restored readily as a rigid elevating means forthe fabricated fioor' loyi" simple operations beforethe' fabricated floor is applied to the main floor of the house;

This invention is best understood frond a consideration of the following detaiied descriptionin connection with the accompanying drawings" forming part of the spe'c-i'ficatidn, nevertheless; it must be borne in mind that the invention is not confined:- to the disclosure, but is susceptible of such changes and modifications asshall define no material; departure from the salient features of the inventidn as" expressed in the appended claim.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is' a fragmentary plan. view of anelevated Wire floor section for use inpoultry houses.- Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section of the floor taken aiorrgtne'nne 2-2"of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary bottom View with parts broken away in perspective of the supporting structure for the fabricated auxiliary floor.

Figure dis a greatly enlarged fragmentary ver tical section of the floor showing the method of folding the supporting legs of the elevated floor upon said floor when: shipped.

Figure 5 is an enlarged longitudinal side e1e-' vationai view with parts broken away of the intersecting" supports removed from the fabricated Wire floor before" the floors are shipped, and 2 Figure 6 is a lan vievv'on a reduced scale of a large area of flooring made up of a; plurality or the floor sections shown in Figure 1;

Referrin more artieuiarly to Figures 1 and 6 6f the drawings, it will be noted thatth' faintca ted wir -s'ectidii's m or tea or an auxiliary floor H may" be comprised of any number of squares I2 depending upon the area and shape of the main floor of a poultry house. Where large areas must be covered, a number ofthe sections may be ram-played and secured to ether in a simple manner.- The fabricated wire floor is] elevated above the main floor" by supports which iv ilibe described presentlyi The auitiiiary floor of each section cdfisists of a suitable length of a fabricated Wire screen havinga predetermined Width. The screen is formed of Iong'i-tudina-i' and right angularly dis posed transverse wiresl3 and M respectively, the contacting ortions of the two sets of wires bein spot-welded to provide the necessary strength to support tlie'tveight of an attendant. The mesh of'the screen is; such that the drop-pings will pass readily through the screen and be deposited on the mainyfloor' of the ouitr house so; that the pouih y'win have a relatively clean floor t wail: on. The ends of the wiresat the outer edges or" the aLuxil'itrryfioor H arespot-welded'topoints on the rods l5 and it of a-reetangular frame I! (Figure 1)" formed'of. a heavy Wire.

V The frame and theattached auxiliary floor are elevated above the" main floor of the poultry house by a pair of su ortin side legs wand-by aypai'r of end supports or legszl'. The supports 20 iii-crude vertical brace" rods 22 which have one end snot welded to a bottom rod 23 which is adapted to rest on the'm'ain fiber. The other ends of th'erodfs' 22 are provided with eyes M" which are" received by the rods I5. 'rheiegszl include a (bottom rod 25 and trace rods 26 which have one end ea 'oii' Welded to said bar; the other ends of said rods are equipped with eyes 26d receiving the associated red It of the frame l1. It will be noted that one end of each of the respective bottom rods 23 and 25 is provided with a hook 21 or 28 for a purpose which will be explained presently. The other ends of the rods 23 and 25 as shown in Figure 3 are welded to the ends of the alined brace rods.

The centers of the sections of the auxiliary floor II are reinforced by a pair of longitudinal supports 30 and 3| disposed at right angles to each other. These supports cross each other in such a manner that each square foot of surface of the auxiliary floor is braced or reinforced. Thus, it will be seen that in an auxiliary floor containing four square feet, two supports 30 and 3| will be employed while in a floor containing nine square feet four longer supports will be required. In this case, the two supports 3| will have two pairs of inbent portions 31.

Referring more particularly to Figures 2, 3 and 5, the support 30 consists of; a pair of parallel horizontal rods 32 which are joined together by parallel vertical brace rods 33 and 33a welded at the ends thereof at spaced points on the parallel rods 32. The intermediate vertical rod 33a is in contact with an intermediate vertical rod 34a of the support 3| which has other spaced vertical rods 34 parallel to the rod 34a. The ends of the rods 34 are welded to the straight portions of parallel horizontal rods 25 and 36 of the support 3|. The ends of the vertical rods 34a has its ends welded to opposed inbent portions 31 of the rods 35 and 2B. These inbent portions 31 receive the rods 32 of the support 30 to provide a neat fit. A wire 39 has a free end welded at 40 to the rod 34a and is adapted to be wrapped around both contacting rods 33a, and 34a. to retain the centers of the supports 30 and 3| in position when the auxiliary floor is placed upon the main floor of the poultry house.

The opposite ends of the horizontal rods 32 of the support 30 are provided with hooks 4| which are adapted to receive. the middle rods 26 of the pair of supports 2 The opposite ends of the horizontal rods 35 and 36 are provided likewise with hooks 42 at the opposite ends thereof to receive the intermediate vertical rods 22 of the supports 20.

All of the hooks remain open including the hooks 2'1 and 28 so that the supports may be removed when the floors are packed for shipment. The removal of the supports3ll and 3| and the hooks 21 and 28 releases the pairs of supports 20 and 2| so that the last-mentioned supports may be rocked to an inoperative position upon the fabricated floor II as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 4. The construction of the eyes 24 and 26a and the position of the supports 20 and 2| are such that the supports may be placed in flat contact with the auxiliary floor I! and the freed supports 30 and 3| are laid upon the first-mentioned folded supports thereby providing a neat package for shipment.

When the auxiliary floors are received by the poultryman, said package of floors are reassembled. The supports 20 and 2| are moved to the vertical positions shown in Figures 3 and 4. The hooks 4| on the ends of the rods 32 of the support 30 are applied to the rods 26 of the supports 2|. The support 3| is inserted horizontally through the center of the support 30 and then turned to a vertical position whence the hooks 42 on the ends of the rods 35 and 36 are applied to the rods 22 of the opposed parallel supports '4 20. The wire 39 is wrapped around both intermediate rods 33a and 34a.

The hook 21 on an end of each of the rods 23 and hook 28 on an end of each of the rods 45 are applied respectively to the lower ends of the outer rods 25 and 22 only. It will be noted that each rod 25 has one end provided with a hook 28 while the other end is welded to a rod 26. Likewise, each rod 23 has one end welded to an outer vertical rod 22 while the other end is provided with a hook 21. The hooks 21 are disposed diagonally in each square section of the auxiliary floor. The hooks 28 are similarly disposed in each section. This arrangement provides a knock-down construction and permits the supports 20 and 2| to be folded on the screen before the auxiliary floors are shipped from the factory. When all of the hooks 21 and 28 have been applied to the associated end or outer rods 25 and 22 of the respective supports 2| and 20, the free ends of the hooks are pressed orclamped into position to form eyes so that said supports are fixed in place. The hooks 4| on the ends of the rods 32 and the hooks 42 on the rods 35 and 36 are transformed similarly into eyes for binding the supports 38 and 3| in fixed positions.

All of the rods and the frame forming the various supports for the auxiliary floor H are manufactured from relatively heavy wire strands, so that the floor will support a load of at least two hundred pounds. The diameters of the rods of the supports and the wire strands of the frame II are substantially the same.

The supports 30 and 3| are intersecting wire frames, and the pairs of supports 20 and 2| are in effect wire frames which are mounted swingably on the frame I! but become fixed supports when set in position in the poultry house.

What We claim:

An auxiliary floor of the knock-down type for poultry houses comprising a rectangular frame, a fabricated Wire screen having the edges thereof secured to corresponding sides of the frame by welding, a Wire frame swingably mounted on each side of the rectangular frame and forming supports for elevating the screen above the floor of a poultry house, each swingable frame including spaced vertical brace rods and a horizontal rod forming the bottom of a swingable frame, the vertical rods having the lower ends secured to the horizontal rod and the upper ends hinged to a side of the rectangular frame. a hook on one end of each horizontal rod of a swingable frame, the hooks on said frame receiving the vertical rods at the end of the swingable frames forming right angles with each other, and intersecting wire frames providing central supports for the fabricated wire screen. and equipped with hooks receiving intermediate vertical rods on the swingably mounted frames.

WALTER T. SEIDEL. ROBERT A. SEIDEL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 803,200 Strip Oct. 31, 1905 2,278,354 Johnston Mar. 31, 1942 2,463,622 Holet Mar. 8, 1949 2,530,572 Arthur Nov. 21, 1950 

